Human rights are universally recognized as inherent entitlements of all individuals, yet their practical realization faces multiple impediments across the globe. This article interrogates the structural, legal, political, and economic barriers to human rights implementation, focusing on Nigeria, South Africa, and India as comparative case studies. While all three states have constitutional and international commitments to protect rights, they grapple with challenges such as non-justiciability, resource constraints, weak institutions, corruption, inequality, and political misuse of emergency powers. At the international level, the flexibility built into the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) particularly Article 4 of the ICCPR and the doctrine of progressive realization under the ICESCR further undermines accountability. Through comparative constitutional and jurisprudential analysis, supported by international commentary and case law, this article argues that the greatest obstacles are not the absence of rights in law but the gap between normative recognition and effective enforcement. The article concludes with recommendations for strengthening domestic enforcement, narrowing international derogation clauses, empowering judicial activism, and promoting cooperative international frameworks.